Father Mother Sister Brother Wins Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival Awards

The 82nd Venice Film Festival came to a close on Saturday, with Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” taking the top award, the Golden Lion for Best Film. The drama starring Cate Blanchett is a triptych that follows three stories set in different countries. “Father” takes place in the Northeast U.S.; “Mother” is set in Dublin; and “Sister Brother” unfolds in Paris. The movie zooms in on the relationships between adult children, their parents and each other.

The award was announced by jury president Alexander Payne.

Going into the evening, Kaouther Ben Hania’s drama set in Gaza, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” was considered the favorite to win the Golden Lion, but it ended up taking instead the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. (The jury, which also included Fernanda Torres, Mohammad Rasoulof, Zhao Tao, Stéphane Brizé, Maura Delpero and Cristian Mungiu, was rumored to be very divided.)

In his review for TheWrap, Ben Croll wrote that the Tunisian filmmaker (whose 2023 film “Four Daughters” was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary) renders the world “with unbearable clarity. … Setting raw audio against meticulously staged reenactments, her hybrid docufiction gives searing form to the most wrenching material, recreating in real-time the final hours of a six-year-old girl in Gaza.” Croll also noted that when it screened, it “drew the most effusive reaction I’ve ever witnessed at the Venice Film Festival – this time from a crowd with no stake in the film. At its Wednesday morning press screening, applause thundered through the credits, breaking only when attendees collapsed into full-body sobs.”

Another American, Benny Safie, took the Silver Lion for Best Director for “The Smashing Machine,” his first solo outing without his brother Josh. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as a mixed martial arts fighter.

Italy’s Toni Servillo was named Best Actor for “La Grazia”; China’s Xin Zhilei won Best Actress for “The Sun Rises on Us All”; France’s Gilles Marchand won Best Screenplay for “At Work; and Luna Wedler won Best Young Actress for the German-French-Hungarian film “Silent Friend.”

Below, the complete list of winners of the 2025 Venice Film Festival.

Main Competition

Golden Lion — Best Film
“Father Mother Sister Brother”

Silver Lion — Grand Jury Prize
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”

Silver Lion — Best Director
Benny Safdie, “The Smashing Machine”

Special Jury Prize
“Below the Clouds” by Gianfranco Rossi

Best Actor
Toni Servillo for “La Grazia” (Italy)

Best Actress
Xin Zhilei for “The Sun Rises on Us All” (China)

Best Screenplay
Gilles Marchand for “At Work” (France)

Best Young Actress
Luna Wedler for “Silent Friend” (Germany, France, Hungary)

Armani Beauty Audience Award
“Calle Málaga” by Maryam Touzani

Lion of the Future (Venice Award for Debut Film)
“Short Summer” by Nastia Korkia

Orizzonti (aka Horizons Section)

Best Film
“En El Camino” by David Pablos (Mexico)

Special Jury Prize
“Lost Land” by Akio Fujimoto (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany)

Best Director
Anuparna Roy for “Songs of the Forgotten Trees” (India)

Best Screenplay
Ana Cristina Barragan for “The Ivy” (Ecuador, Mexico, France, Spain)

Best Actress
Benedetta Porcaroli for “The Kidnapping of Arabella” (Italy)

Best Actor
Giacomo Covi for “A Year of School” (Italy, France)

Best Short Film
“Without Kelly,” Lovisa Sirén (Sweden)

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